St. Croix is a distinctive luxury fashion brand for men, manufactured in the USA. In 2020, it realized what plenty of other fashion businesses have realized – that a powerful ecommerce solution is now more essential than ever.
Headquartered in Winona, Minnesota, St. Croix has been in business for over 25 years. The fashion company prides itself on using only the finest materials – Merino Wool, Giza Cotton, Mongolian Cashmere – in combination with the craftsmanship of highly skilled artisans. Each season, a multitude of classic yet on trend pieces are released in limited quantities, perfect for gentlemen searching for timeless and unique styles alike.
“One of the main aspects that sets us apart as a brand, is the fact that we are one of the very few still creating luxury goods “made in the USA”. The quality of our products is superior, because we use the finest materials available, enhanced through a craftsmanship incomparable to anything else on the market.”
Jessica Huseboe-Narva, General Manager, St. Croix
For St. Croix, brick-and-mortar retail has always been a strong focus, with ecommerce in a supportive role. Earlier this year, however, when the pandemic hit and the seven St. Croix Stores temporarily closed, ecommerce suddenly became its lifeline. St. Croix was aiming for a fabulous Fall/Winter launch with the help of an ecommerce solution from VTEX. The brand mainly desired an ecommerce store that performs amazingly well in both desktop and mobile channels and that delivers a remarkably seamless shopping experience to its customers.
“This was a huge move for us and our expectations were high, as we wanted the St. Croix online business to grow, especially given the current retail climate. Those expectations have been well met.”
Kathy Sula, Marketing Manager, St. Croix
St. Croix now benefits from an incredible ease of website administration thanks to the low-code development platform, VTEX IO. VTEX Commerce Platform enables the fashion retailer to quickly create special product categories without disturbing the site navigation, to easily launch and manage promotions and, for the first time ever, to accept gift cards online. Additionally, filtering capabilities and the AI-driven VTEX Intelligent Search guide St. Croix’s customers towards the exact items they’re looking for. Most importantly, the ecommerce store is truly a visual representation of the brand.
“VTEX helps present our garments with a very high-end, luxurious feel, one that’s consistent with the quality that we produce.”
Jessica Huseboe-Narva, General Manager, St. Croix
On the 26th of August, St. Croix launched its brand new virtual store, which quickly delivered impressive results. Revenue for the first three months since the migration has increased when compared to the three months prior. More significantly, the average order value and overall sales have maintained in a year-to-year comparison during a challenging retail climate. In addition, there has been a 20% increase in fringe sizes, which were previously unsupported online. A welcome result is a general boost of overall website traffic.
“We have seen a boost in sales of our fringe sizes; people are now able to find and purchase their size with ease. Our previous ecommerce store was not able to support sizing at different price points, but now we are visible at all points to the consumer. Having all sizes available online will only help the growth of our business.”
Jessica Huseboe-Narva, General Manager, St. Croix
St. Croix’s new ecommerce solution will be a valuable companion to the physical shops long after the retail world returns to normal – it will serve as a visual guide to the brand’s great array of unique luxury products. Customers will therefore be able to buy specific items which might otherwise not be in stock at a certain location. The physical and digital realms will merge to provide a truly unified shopping experience, all to the benefit of the customer.
“The company philosophy is to always create the very finest in what we produce, and now our online presence provides a vibrant method to convey our core concept as a brand.”
Kathy Sula, Marketing Manager, St. Croix
Now that VTEX introduced St. Croix to new business and technological possibilities, the fashion retailer is set on designing a bold and far-reaching future. With a website that can support ambitious content strategies and seamlessly integrate social media platforms, approaching an expanded, new audience will come naturally, as will further scaling ecommerce operations.
“We are really impressed with the overall partnership with VTEX, everyone is so helpful and thorough, providing invaluable guidance for us. The wonderful customer care that we have received made the project incredibly easy.”
Jessica Huseboe-Narva, General Manager, St. Croix
The CCX Company, in collaboration with VTEX Commerce Cloud, expresses gratitude for having had the opportunity to enhance its understanding of the advantages, trends, and other elements addressed in the current topic. This article was jointly developed and is brought to you by the VTEX Commerce Cloud team.
